Elena Smith is an ESL instructor at the Intensive American Language Center at Washington State University. She received her doctorate in English Linguistics from St. Petersburg State University, Russia, and holds a master's degree in Philology in German languages from the same university. She has taught in Russia, Finland, Japan, and the U.S. Elena is the Past President on The Washington Association for the Education of Speakers of Other Languages (WAESOL) Board. She has presented at numerous conferences for ESL instructors. She is also an author of eleven linguistic articles and published her first novel "Why Birches Are White" in 2006 and is currently finishing its sequel "Why Pines Are Evergreen."

Elena's keynote topic for our conference will be Challenges and Triumphs in the ESL Profession.